THE HERRING. 289 



recruit their strength ; but that they come to the shores 

 and shallows, where the heat of the sun can penetrate 

 to the bottom, and be reflected by it, for the purpose 

 of maturing as well as of depositing their spawn. 



We know not, and we cannot know, the secrets of 

 those mighty depths which no plummet can fathom ; 

 but we have every reason to believe that there is a 

 profundity where animals, constructed as the fishes 

 that we see are, could not by possibility exist. Imagine 

 the pressure of a thousand atmospheres, or between six 

 and seven tons, upon every square inch of surface, and 

 think of the miracle of muscular power which could give 

 motion even to the smallest fish there ; imagine, too, a 

 permanence of state where the air never moves, and 

 the sun never warms ; and think what a dwelling for 

 that which must breathe by an apparatus so delicate as 

 the gills of a fish ! It may be said, that God is capable 

 of making creatures adapted for living there. We do 

 not deny that he is, neither do we deny their existence ; 

 but we deny that the laws of nature are ever violated, 

 which they would be, were the fishes which we know, 

 able to move under such a pressure, or propagate, so 

 completely excluded from the action of the sun and 

 the air. 



The herrings come to the shores and estuaries to 

 mature and propagate their spawn, which they do over 

 a greater range of the year than most other fish; con- 

 tinuing the operation to the middle of winter, and 

 retiring into deeper water after that is done. But 

 there is no reason to conclude, that they have much 

 migration in latitude ; or, that they ever move far from 

 those shores which they frequent in the season. The 



